Design and Development of Plastic Crusher for a More Efficient Waste Management Practice

Abstract

One of the prevalent environmental problems encountered in most developing countries is solid waste management. Plastic waste such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and other plastic materials is one of the solid wastes hampering the developmental and aesthetical state of our environment. This is as a result of indiscriminate disposal and indiscriminate burning of solid waste. Environmental pollution caused by this indiscriminate disposal and burning necessitated the development of plastic crusher to recycle plastic waste generated within our environment. The machine components are hopper, crushing chamber, crushed material outlet, counter weight, transmission shaft with spiral blade around it, channel and body frame. The machine is powered by a 3-phase 10Hp medium speed electric motor. The machine, being a medium sized crusher, has the capacity of crushing half a ton of plastic in a day depending on the type of recyclable plastic crushed. The degree of linear correlation, r squared for observed and predicted values of variables evaluated are within acceptable region. The efficiency of crushing based on polymers processed are 90% for HDPE, 68% for LDPE, 45% for PVC and 10% for PET bottles. The developed crusher can be used to reduce the volume of plastic waste dump. If the findings from this technical brief is adopted and commercialized, the menace of plastic waste will be ended. Keywords: